78 Days 78 Cards
9 types, 3 subtypes
Last year I did a deep dive into each tarot card and posted my study on Instagram. It was part of the 100 Day Project and I got a lot out of it, creating the log book which I use as a resource when I give tarot readings. With this beginning of October, eclipse season upon us, I feel the need to get back to the roots of where I started this journey, and revisit with fresh eyes the magic of the cards. In addition, I’ve always wanted to feed my enneagram study more concretely with the tarot. And so I begin, as always with zero, with the Fool.
Zero might be the most important number, because it is in fact an empty set. In numerology zero represents latent possibility, new beginnings, the start of a cycle or a season. In tarot The Fool is the symbol of just that: fresh starts, possibility, choices and chances, risk and and a certain kind of courage, facing the unknown. In its nothingness, it is a symbol of the void.
Christina Dorsini’s take on The Fool is a little different, steeped in a deep understanding of the history behind the cards, specifically Italian Renaissance depictions. She says, “the Fool assumes the nuances between innocence and madness, including instinct, oddness, nonchalance, incomprehensible actions and detachment of the mind. It is the irrational side of man that can drive him to good as well as bad.” (Dorsini, p.30) The depiction above is not the well dressed wayfarer of the Rider Waite Smith deck, but is someone who is in tatters with ostrich feathers coming out of his hair. I think of the ostrich as a bird which is irrational insofar as it hides its head in the sand, not wanting to face reality. There is a madness to the Visconti Sforza Fool.
I find the reconciliation of these two images in the clubs both figures carry on their left shoulders. Though one figure is well heeled and the other has no shoes, they are both moving forward with some strength and power, which is the ability to move forward into the energy of the unknown.
Enneagram Type Sevens and The Fool
Enneagram type sevens use Fool energy in their lives. The type Seven is the optimist of the enneagram, the risk taker who believes nothing bad could possibly happen, and if it does then it will be fun to work their way out of it. The type Seven avoids pain at all costs. Now the Rider Waite Smith depiction of The Fool has a serious Seven quality about it, as he heads off a cliff, but what about the Visconti Sforza?
Our figure here doesn't necessarily feel optimistic to me but there is a sense of avoiding pain, yet sitting in it. Notice the goiter on the neck? The Seven may have an obvious illness but says “Everything's fine!” because who has time for that?
Both Fools are moving forward into the unknown, like our Type Sevens, looking for a new adventure, and both like our Sevens have enormous courage and strength.
Tarot Crcle will be Sunday, October 22nd at 9am pst. Reply to this post if you haven't already and want to join us. I'll send a link the week of.
xo Hanna